New Orleans Saints 'Bountygate' Worse Than New England Patriots 'Spygate'

Most media members were rather quick to brush aside any comparison of the conduct of the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal and the New England Patriots videotaping scandal of 2007.

I assure you: There is a very distinct connection. More than one, in fact. One scandal is far worse than the other. And if you can believe it, the worse infraction doesn't belong to the team that was punished more than any team for any infraction in NFL history.

But exactly why is what the Saints did so much worse than what the Patriots did back in 2007?

Integrity of the Game/Competitive Advantage

Some might argue that while the Patriots videotaping may have compromised the integrity of the game, what the Saints did compromised the health of their opponents, and thus it is an apples-to-oranges comparison.

But the Saints were not only trying to take players out of the game, but they were secretly and institutionally incentivized, above and beyond their contracts, to do so. We've heard evidence from Peter King of Sports Illustrated that Brett Favre was targeted for $10,000 by Jonathan Vilma in the NFC Championship Game, and with the hits constantly taking their toll on Favre, it's easy to see where the competitive advantage may have been gained.

Even Roger Goodell agrees with me. From his public release:

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The payments here are particularly troubling because they involved not just payments for "performance," but also for injuring opposing players.

The bounty rule promotes two key elements of NFL football: player safety and competitive integrity. It is our responsibility to protect player safety and the integrity of our game, and this type of conduct will not be tolerated.

"

Violation of Rules

The major common misnomer about the Patriots videotaping scandal is that they knew they were breaking the rules the whole time, when that's simply not the case. The rule which the Patriots were punished for breaking states:

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Any use by any club at any time, from the start to the finish of any game in which such club is a participant, of any communications or information-gathering equipment, other than Polaroid-type cameras or field telephones, shall be prohibited, including without limitation videotape machines, telephone tapping, or bugging devices, or any other form of electronic devices that might aid a team during the playing of a game.

"

The final six words are where the confusion spawned, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston. Belichick and the Patriots thought, precisely as the rule reads, that as long as they weren't using the film "during the game," they were fine.

The memo sent out on September 6, 2006 by NFL head of football operations Ray Anderson regarding the rule reads differently than the rule book itself.

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Video taping of any type, including but not limited to taping of an opponent’s offensive or defensive signals, is prohibited on the sidelines, in the coaches’ booth, in the locker room, or at any other locations accessible to club staff members during the game.

"

The differences are plain to see. The rule has no mention of "on the sidelines" as seen in the memo, and the memo also leaves out the "during the playing of a game" part found at the end of the rule as seen in the book. 

As an aside: The chorus of fans that claim the Patriots three Super Bowls are tainted all forget that the Super Bowls were won before the memo, which changed the wording of the rule, prohibiting for the first time the conduct for which the Patriots were punished in 2007.

This highlights a major disconnect between the Patriots and Saints violations, which Tim Graham of the Buffalo News also pointed out on Twitter:

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Spygate's enforcement was based on a memo. Bounties are non-contract bonuses that violate NFL Constitution and Bylaws and the CBA.

— Tim Graham (@ByTimGraham) March 2, 2012"

It is the memo, not the rule as it reads in the book, which the Patriots punishment was based upon.

The Patriots got the largest punishment in NFL history on a technicality within a memo that was likely handed out on a carbon copy piece of paper. The Saints clearly violated the terms of the NFL Constitution and Collective Bargaining Agreement. 

Comparatively speaking, the repercussions the Saints endure should be much worse than those suffered by the Patriots.

Magnitude

Even CBS Sports' Mike Freeman, who isn't exactly known for showering the Patriots in praise, said the scandal "is turning out to be a scandal bigger than Spygate."

It turns out Williams may not be the only one involved, though, as details pour out that both Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis 

In fact, according to Freeman, it turns out Payton may have had as much to do with this as anyone; he had direct contact via email with a convicted felon, Michael Ordstein, who funded the system externally.

This is a deep running scandal that stretches through not only a championship but also through a league investigation.

Bringing Punishment Upon The Innocent

Brett Favre. Kurt Warner. Peyton Manning. These three men all share three things in common:

1. They're all quarterbacks.
2. They're all league MVPs.
3. They're all guilty of nothing.

Favre almost got knocked out of football. Warner did. Manning now suffers the consequences with a neck surgery that has kept him out for a full season.

How much punishment is this worth? How hard will the league come down on Gregg Williams as opposed to Payton, Loomis and others? 

But more importantly, how do the two infractions compare?

Michael Lombardi of NFL.com pointed this out with great clarity:

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As the ultimate leader, [Goodell's] decision must be consistent with past rulings. ...This will be his biggest verdict yet. Further complicating matters, everyone wants a swift decision. However, the more the league investigates, the more damaging details could potentially emerge.

"

While it's pretty cut and dry how deep the Patriots videotaping scandal ran—not that deep at all, really—the troubling fact is that as details emerge, it only serves to make the Saints look worse and worse.

Any comparison of the conduct of the Patriots scandal vs. the Saints scandal has been cursory, but the correlation is much stronger than you might think.

And how Goodell punishes the Saints will be indicative of how he feels about said correlation. Now, if only we could get him to do something about the media's obsession with adding "gate" to the end of every scandal.

Follow @ErikFrenz